Little Red Dress

Hi guys! Are you having a good summer? We're having lots of fun around here! I just thought I'd pop in and show you this cute little dress I made for a baby shower.

I didn't use a pattern, I just copied the shape from a dress I'd seen at the mall.

I just love piping on little girls dresses, don't you?  So cute.

It was tricky to find a good spot to photograph it; in this house of boys, there's not much girly stuff around.  :)  I tried the hooks in my "baby's" room.  Zoom out a little, though...and it's obvious it's a boy's room!  

It was fun to have an excuse to make something for a little girl!

Squid

My son is super into squids right now. He wants to be a marine biologist, specifically studying the Giant Squid. He has decided upon his major, college choice, and future graduate work. This is awesome. Especially since he's 10. :) Granted, I picked my major when I was 12 (and got my degree in it) so it's entirely possible he'll see it through.

For now, he is constantly drawing squids, his pinewood derby car was a squid, and he and his best friend design submarines at recess everyday.  So, when I needed to come up with a birthday gift for him that could be made cheaply at home, I thought it'd be fantastic to make a stuffed squid for his bed. 

To say that he LOVES it would be an understatement. 

Personally, I'm rather proud of myself for thinking to use polka dot fabric for the suction cup sides of the arms and tentacles (he informs me that they're not all tentacles, only the long ones are). 

I didn't have a pattern, I just sketched out what I thought the squid should look like, added 1/2 inch seam allowances to my sketch, and cut it out.

 

It was a great scrap buster.  I used leftover polka dot fabric from this dress and gray fabric leftover from the Dumbledore costume from a couple Halloweens ago.  The eyes (one on each side) were made of felt I had in my stash. 

 

 

I sewed everything right sides together and stuffed it.  I basted it together as I assembled it, as working with all those arms was rather complicated--too complicated for pinning. 

 

 

I really love how it looks sitting on top of his green bedspread.  I'm proud of my little squid.  :)

 

Cleaning Cards

 

Using these cards as my inspiration, I made my family some detailed cleaning cards so they can effectively help me clean our house.  They've been great.  "Go clean your room" can be a bit overwhelming to a kid.  Now, my boys have the chore broken down into manageable parts.  And the room actually gets (mostly) clean!

The Bored Board, Revamped

Last summer, I made a Bored Board for my boys. This year, though, it needed a little tweaking.  We've got rather scheduled days this year, as we have many goals we're working on and quite a few doctor's appointments (for being healthy boys, these guys sure have a lot of specialists...it makes for quite a few check ups every year).   So, I wanted a spot to put a daily schedule.

So, I rearranged the pockets, and made space for a clear sleeve to slide in a daily schedule.  I make a week's worth at a time in Excel and slide the whole week in at once, pulling out a sheet after that day has passed.  

The pockets and "tickets" are a little different this year, too.  During the "blank" spots in the schedule (there's generally one in the morning, one in the afternoon, and one after dinner), they can choose a ticket from one of the pockets.  I color coded them for morning (where trips to the zoo and the museum go), afternoon (paint, draw, build a blanket fort, etc.), evening (there's a Camp Out in the Backyard one in that pocket!), and "school time."  

I'm one of those "mean moms" who makes their kids keep up on their school skills during the summer.  They get quiet reading time every afternoon (this replaces nap time in our house when a kid stops napping every day.  Hey, Mom's gotta have a break, right?!).  And, they've got a spot in the schedule to brush up on writing and math skills.  So, they get to choose from various math computer games, and things like "make a list," "write in your journal," and "write a letter."

I'm also adding some chore cards to the board.  This is the summer my boys learn how to cook, clean, and do laundry!  I have a feeling this is going to be a fun, and productive, summer!

Trip Fun Binders

We took a family vacation this year for Spring Break. It was the perfect time to visit my hometown in Texas, before the sweltering heat of summer.  It's was a long drive, though, so I made up some activity books for my boys.

 

I was trying to do this trip on the cheap (isn't that what I say about all my projects?).  Let's face it, the way this economy is, we can all stand to save our pennies.  So, I didn't want to go out and buy a ton of stuff.  Free printables to the rescue!

I gathered up some old school supplies--binders, pencil bags, and various and sundry markers and colored pencils.   

I used Picasa and Google Image Search to put together a bingo card for things we might see on our trip (I saw everything except the roadrunner...).  I made a collage in Picasa, then shuffled the images to make a different card for each person.  I put the bingo cards in some plastic sleeves that I had laying around and included some dry erase markers in the pencil bag so that my boys could cross things off right on the plastic sleeve.  

 

I printed out a few mazes and coloring pages as well.  

The mazes came from mrprintables.com.  They have tons of great free printables for kids.  They're super cute.

We all had fun doing the State License Plate Bingo by The Dating Divas.

I got some fun travel games from Whimsical Fig.

And some from LilSugar, too.  

The printable Battleship game by Cathe Holden at Just Something I Made is so fun, and SO cute!

I also added some maps.  A good way to stave off "Are We There Yet?" is to give the kids a map with your route on it that they can follow along with.  Each kid got a map of all the states we drove through, plus a Google Maps printout of our route and directions.  

 

 

 Plus, since we were going to be traveling during my church's General Conference, I printed out some Conference Packets from Sugardoodle (oh how they love their conference packets every 6 months!) for them to work on as we drove as well.  

 

 And, of course, I added a bunch of notebook paper for each binder, as all of my boys love to draw and write.  

Though not in their binders, I also had some conversation starters with me (in MY binder--of course organized me has my own binder!) from iMom and Sissyprint.  A long road trip is a great time for great conversations.

Each boy had a backpack to put their binder in.  I added to each backpack a magazine (copies of The Friend and Boy's Life), Where's Waldo books (that I keep stored with the suitcases so they're still interesting every time we take a trip), a couple little snacks (Tic Tacs and Barnum's Animal Crackers are favorites), Kleenexes and a package of wipes (do you know how nice it was not to have to twist around and get my allergic boys Kleenexes every 10 minutes?), and a teeny tiny stuffed animal each.  

 

These binders and backpacks kept my three boys happy and interested for most of our 40+ hours of driving.  We didn't even have to break out the DVD player once.  I call that a Family Vacation Miracle.  :)

Quick Zipper Pull

Hi, I'm back! Please forgive my two-week absence, my family and I took a lovely trip for Spring Break. Now that I'm back and getting back on top of things, it's time for a new blog post!

Do you ever lose your zipper pull? The one on my purse, a nice leather pull, is about to come off the zipper entirely. I've been thinking for awhile about how to replace it when it inevitably breaks off. I suddenly had the solution, as I was packing my boys for our trip. I don't know why I didn't think of it before. And, you all will probably wonder why I'm bothering to blog about it...I bet you've already thought of it. :)

As I was packing, I noticed that my little guy's backpack was missing its zipper pulls, too.  Once upon a time I'd replaced the pull with a safety pin, to give me something to pull to zip it shut, but it kept opening and poking my hand.  Not the safest option.

Instead, I used ribbon!  I threaded a little grosgrain ribbon that I had lying around through the zipper and sewed it together at a couple points (um...really quickly, which is why it's so crooked.  I was more interested in speed than appearance at this point.  If I had been, I probably would have bothered matching the thread, too.).  Voila, a new zipper pull!

 

 

Star Wars Apron Tutorial

My son has this adorable robot apron from Old Navy. It was starting to get too small, so I told him I'd get him another. I wish they still sold those cute boy aprons, but I bought it years and years ago. He just loved the cute screen printing on it, though, and didn't want a plain "manly" apron. So, I thought I'd try the freezer paper stencil technique I've seen around blogland and make a cool Star Wars Apron.

First, I bought a basic apron from the craft section at Walmart.

Then, I found a pumpkin carving stencil online.  (Found here.)  He has been super into Star Wars lately, so I thought a Storm Trooper would be fun.  I printed it onto freezer paper.

I taped it down so it wouldn't wiggle while I cut, then cut out the black areas with an exacto knife.

 

I then positioned the stencil where I wanted it on the apron and ironed it on (shiny side down).  Make sure your iron is hot enough that the stencil is tightly stuck.  The first time I tried this (craft fail!) I didn't iron it well enough and paint seeped underneath the edges.  

I used fabric paint and a sponge brush to paint the openings in my stencil.  

 

I put on a couple of coats, until it didn't look pink anymore.  When it was nearly dry, I peeled off the stencil. I let the paint dry fully, and then I ironed over it to set the paint.  (I have no idea if that is even necessary, but I figured it couldn't hurt.)  

I think the Storm Trooper apron turned out really cute.  It's perfect for my boy. 

 

Scientist Birthday Party

My twins turned 9 this month. It's my official policy that they only get a birthday party every other year.  Except, I never enforce this policy.  After throwing their Harry Potter birthday party last year, I decided that this year they were going to do something simple for their birthday.  No more parties.  Too expensive, too much stress.  Right?

And then birthday time rolls around and I just have too many good ideas for a party.  :)  I threw them a Science Birthday Party this year.   I was reminded of my idea to throw them a science party (it was in the running for last year's theme) when I came across fun little science-y things (like safety goggles and test tubes) in the dollar section at Target.  I love the dollar section at Target, don't you?  So, I broke my rule (again) and told my boys that they could only invite a few friends each and that this was going to be a simple, cheap party.  And, it was.  I love parties that are cute, but also easy and inexpensive.

A science party is a perfect party theme for this age.  They're at such a fun age--they're so excited about everything. They're Cub Scouts and love doing fun scout things like building and experimenting. They were super excited about getting to do some science experiments with their friends.

In keeping with the must-be-easy rule, I didn't start from scratch.  For invitations, I used these adorable printable invitations from Living Locurto.

 

The favor bags contained the safety goggles and test tubes from Target, some gloves, Nerds (because scientists are nerdy, right?), and glow-in-the-dark slime!

 

For the slime (which we made at the party, in addition to the ones I put together before hand), I used this "recipe" at Science Bob.  I love Science Bob!  There are so many fun experiments there.   I added some glow-in-the dark paint to make it glow in the dark (though I'm not sure if it worked...).  I made my own labels, too.  

I packaged the favors in white lunch sacks, with Living Locurto's caution stickers.  

I went with basic cupcakes, with orange frosting to match the decor.  I pre-scooped the ice cream into cupcake liners, so I didn't have to scoop at the party.  Such an awesome idea, courtesy of Real Simple. 

The only decorations were the yellow tablecloth and "The Lab" poster that I whipped up by printing out words and clipart and gluing to a piece of poster board.  

The supplies for the experiments kind of worked with the color scheme, though.

 

 The experiments (demonstrations, really) were a huge hit with the kids, even with the kids who came in saying they'd be boring.  The Oobleck was a huge hit.  

 

 

The fireworks in a jar were pretty fun, too.  

 

 

My personal favorite was the one where we blew up a balloon with a bottle.  It's the same vinegar and baking soda experiment as the old volcano eruption project (did you do that one in 5th grade like I did?), except without the mess.  

 

It was a fun (and inexpensive--I only spent about $15) party.  And, of course, my favorite part was when one of the party guests told me it was the best birthday party he'd ever been to in his whole life.  :)